Next morning, I drove Emily to school and then stopped at Mrs. Dawson’s house on my way to work. I wasn’t planning some huge confrontation. Honestly I just wanted to scare her enough to hand over the money and think twice before doing that to another kid.
She opened the door still wearing pajama pants and holding one of those giant gas station coffees. The second she saw me standing there, she rolled her eyes like she already knew why I came.
I told her Emily earned the money and she needed to pay her. Mrs. Dawson actually laughed and said teenagers were “too soft now” and that babysitting used to be something girls just did for neighbors.
Then her little boy walked into the hallway behind her and quietly asked if Emily was still coming over that weekend.
Mrs. Dawson’s face changed immediately.
That’s when I realized my daughter hadn’t even told me the worst part.
She’d still been watching those kids after not getting paid because the little boy kept begging her not to leave him alone with his mother.